Quick Facts
Biography
Mohamed Cheikh Ould Mkhaitir (Arabic: محمد الشيخ ولد امخيطير ) is a Mauritanian blogger and political prisoner. He was sentenced to death after he wrote an article about religion and the caste system in Mauritania. He is a designated prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International.
Mkhaitir was born into the Moulamines caste, commonly referred to as the blacksmith caste, which holds the second lowest social status in Mauritania. Before he was arrested on charges of apostasy he worked for SAMMA, a company partially owned by Kinross.
Arrest and death sentence
Mkhaitir was arrested in his home in the city of Nouadhibou on 2 January 2014, two days after publishing an article titled “Religion, Religiosity and Craftsmen” on the website Aqlame. The article was critical of the prophet Muhammad's treatment of non-Arabs relating to the caste system in Mauritania. Clerics issued a fatwa against him and demanded he be executed,and a businessman offered reward of 10,000 ouguiya for his death. He was charged with apostasy under Article 306 of the Mauritanian criminal code, and subsequently sentenced to death by firing squad. If the sentence is carried out Mkhaitir would be the first person executed in Mauritania since 1987. Despite repenting and saying shahada, the supreme court upheld his death sentence.
Addressing the United Nations Human Rights Council as a representative of the International Humanist and Ethical Union, Kacem El Ghazzali highlighted the case of Mkhaitir, to which the Mauritanian ambassador to the UNHRC claimed Mkhaitir was arrested for his own safety. The diplomat also reportedly insisted "there is no need to talk about the death penalty"
The court of appeals heard the case on April 1, 2016. The verdict was upheld but sent the case to Mauritania's supreme court. On January 31, 2017, Mauritania’s supreme court heard the case, and returned it to the court of appeals. When the appeal was taken to the Supreme Court, protestors, some of them armed, gathered in Nouakchott demanding his execution.